On our second day in Maine, after eating lobster and hot dogs and drinking our fair share of beer, Mrs. HDM and I headed to Old Orchard beach for our next (and what proved to be final) Hot Dog Story of the weekend. This is a shot of the beach from the end of the pier- we like to soak up the honky tonk atmosphere before heading up to Scarborough.
After grabbing a beeyah at the peeyah, we decided to go in search of hot dogs for lunch.
Even at noon, the pier is packed.
This place had a good looking deal- hot dog and a Coke for only 99 cents. After peeking in the stand, I was so skeeved out, I kept going.
These corn dogs looked good, but I wanted a REAL Maine hot dog.
Deep fried Kool Aid? REALLY?!?!?!
There were several hot dog choices here, but...
..."Elvis" steered us to a new joint, right at the entry of the pier....
...Wicked Good Weiners! Wicked Good Weiners is open 11AM - 11PM, 7 days a week from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Wicked Good Weiners is owned by Brian Volz, a relocated Winthrop, Massachusetts native who has an entrepreneurial spirit and a love of cooking. He starts culinary school this fall.
His partner, Michaela McVetty, is a Maine native, walking comedy show, and business management major. The two got together on Wicked Good Weiners when Michaela overheard Brian talking about his new project and wanted in. Brian said there were a lot of people interested in partnering up with him, so he picked the partner who came up with the best name for the cart. How a kid from Winthrop COULDN'T come up with the "Wicked Good" tagline is beyond me! I PROMISED Brian and Michaela I would emphasize: THEY ARE BUSINESS PARTNERS-THEY ARE NOT A COUPLE!
The actual cart is a standard looking hot dog cart with five steam wells and storage. Brian was unsure of the manufacturer- he picked it up used on Craigslist.
One of the cool things about Wicked Good Weiners is, in addition to Oscar Meyer and Ball Park franks, they serve Jordan's Red Dogs (sometimes called Red Snappers). Jordan's is an old Maine brand of franks that went into business in 1927 and acquired the Joseph Kirschner Company in 1992. Tyson Foods had bought out Kirschner's and sells the Jordan brand out of their Augusta, Maine location known as Tyson Retail Deli. Maine Red Snappers taste like a regular natural casing dog, they just have some red dyes numbers 3 and 40 to give them the signature hue. The Red Snapper originated out of Jordans' desire to differentiate their dogs from others way back when. They have become a staple in many Maine eateries and have spawned other imitators.
A Hot Doggin' in Maine tour wouldn't be complete without some Red Snappers, so that's what we decided to have one. Each Red Snapper is cooked to order (I have NEVER seen dogs cooked to order from a simple hot dog cart) and individually checked for temperature with a digital thermometer. These were the freshest hot dog cart dogs I have ever encountered.
Mrs. HDM ordered up a chili dog with brie (she can't stand the "squeeze cheese") and...
CHOWED DOWN! The beeyah at the peeyah must have lowered her usual aversion to having her photo snapped while eating a hot dog.
I had the house specialty "Maine Dog." That's a Red Snapper with chili, cheese and bacon!
TIME TO
CHOW DOWN!
The dogs were great- nice and hot and the condiments were fresh. By far the best hot dogs on the Pier! Definitely
TWO THUMBS UP!
If you are looking for a fresh, cheap lunch in Old Orchard Beach, skip the grungy fry shops that have hot dogs as an "add on item" and go to the end of the Pier to Wicked Good Weiners for a genuine Maine Red Snapper! Tell Brian and Michaela "the Hotdogman sent me."
Check out the video of our visit to Wicked Good Weiners on Hot Dog Stories- you won't be sorry, Brian and Michaela were VERY funny.
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